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Glenn Mountain

HBSA: Richard Walker

Glenn Mountain reports from the inaugural Handmade Bicycle Show Australia, held in Melbourne April 28-29.

Richard Walker Custom Bicycles at HBSA. All photos: Glenn Mountain

Richard Walker (pictured behind his bike), of Richard Walker Custom Bicycles, talks about his background, his motivation for getting into the frame building business, and makes notes on a bike he displayed at the Handmade Bicycle Show Australia.

BackgroundI've been building for about 10 years. As a bike racer, getting off-the-shelf bikes that fit longs legs and a short torso was difficult. I’ve always had custom bikes and began finding it hard to get new frames as the old guys retired, so I decided to make my own. As a refrigeration mechanic I’ve done a lot of brazing, and my father was a metal fabricator in the automotive industry with experience in development. So, with a lot of help from Jim Bundy, it came together. From there people began to ask if I’d make one for them.

Favourite featuresThe geometry. It's built specifically for myself with a 55cm top tube with 58cm seat tube and parallel 71 degree head and seat tube angles.